oers deeming it an even superior film to the first outing ¿ particularly with its introduction of Gollum (Andy Serkis) which was the first time an actor's performance and digital animation were seamlessly integrated to create the world's first completely life-like computer-generated character. Despite the massive box office take and numerous critical accolades, Jackson failed to make the Academy's nominee list for Best Director a second time. But it was the third installment, "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003) that proved to be the pinnacle for Jackson, winning universal praise as an immensely satisfying wrap-up to the epic tale and a landmark in cinematic innovation, though many offered slight criticism for the film's ending, which unfolded for what seemed like an hour on its own. Still, "Return of the King" had set the new technological benchmarks, while Jackson himself was rewarded at last with some major directorial plaudits, including a first Best Director Academy Award, a Golden Globe as Best Director, Motion Picture, and a Directors Guild Award. The third film garnered a total of 11 Oscar nominations overall ¿ the first ever to achieve that many without any acting nods ¿ and...

oers deeming it an even superior film to the first outing ¿ particularly with its introduction of Gollum (Andy Serkis) which was the first time an actor's performance and digital animation were seamlessly integrated to create the world's first completely life-like computer-generated character. Despite the massive box office take and numerous critical accolades, Jackson failed to make the Academy's nominee list for Best Director a second time. But it was the third installment, "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003) that proved to be the pinnacle for Jackson, winning universal praise as an immensely satisfying wrap-up to the epic tale and a landmark in cinematic innovation, though many offered slight criticism for the film's ending, which unfolded for what seemed like an hour on its own. Still, "Return of the King" had set the new technological benchmarks, while Jackson himself was rewarded at last with some major directorial plaudits, including a first Best Director Academy Award, a Golden Globe as Best Director, Motion Picture, and a Directors Guild Award. The third film garnered a total of 11 Oscar nominations overall ¿ the first ever to achieve that many without any acting nods ¿ and collected a statue for every category, tying the records held by "Ben Hur" (1959) and "Titanic" (1997).

Anticipation could not have been higher for Jackson's follow-up project, a remake of the classic monster film "King Kong" (2005), a childhood dream of his that almost came true in 1997 while he was battling for the rights to Lord of the Rings. Though he kept the time, place and story essentially the same as the original, Jackson completely revolutionized the special effects by again using Andy Serkis in a motion-capture body suit to portray Kong. Meanwhile, Jackson recruited an enviable cast, including Adrien Brody, Jack Black and Naomi Watts in the Faye Wray role, and made another film for the ages that, while at the time was the most expensive movie ever made, recouped its budget and then some after talking in over $550 million worldwide. Stepping into the role of producer, Jackson helped shepherd the independently made sci-fi opus, "District 9" (2009), which focused on an alien invasion where the aliens never attack and are instead consigned to become refugees in South Africa, only to find themselves targeted by a multi-national company that seeks to acquire its DNA-based weaponry. Meanwhile, Jackson spent several years trying to direct adaptations of Tolkein's The Hobbit, only to eventually settle on writing and producing two installments directed by Guillermo del Torro. In the meantime, he directed the adaptation of Alice Sebold's bestseller, "The Lovely Bones" (2009), which told the tale of a young girl (Saoirse Ronan) raped and murdered by her neighbor (Stanley Tucci), and who finds herself trapped in purgatory while watching her family grieve and the killer plotting to murder again.

As the travails of attempting to get the "Hobbit" film off the ground continued, Jackson returned to more familiar genre fare when he partnered with director Steven Spielberg to co-produce "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011), a CGI animated adventure based on the comic book series by French creator Hergé. Planned as the first entry in a franchise, Jackson was slated to direct the second feature, with Spielberg co-producing. On a far smaller scale financially, but of equal significance to Jackson was his next project as a producer ¿ the harrowing documentary "West of Memphis" (2012). Following the decades-long ordeal of a trio of three young men ¿ collectively known as the "West Memphis Three" ¿ who were accused, tried and convicted of the gruesome murder of a young boy in 1993, it concluded with the men¿s eventual release from prison and shed light on a more likely suspect in the grisly crime. Throughout all of these side projects, Jackson remained committed to helping Guillermo del Toro bring the "Hobbit" to life on screen. For more than two years, del Toro had pushed forward, working with Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens on a script and designing creatures, characters and set pieces. However, in the midst of ongoing financial difficulties with the troubled MGM, which had yet to officially green light the project, a frustrated del Toro regretfully announced his departure from the movie in 2010.

In a move that many fans had long felt was predestined, Jackson officially announced that summer that he would take over duties as the director of the film , which had by then been greenlit and would be shot in 3-D. Still, the road ahead would be bumpy, as more troubles arose when a labor dispute with the International Federation of Actors once again threatened to derail the project, or at least move its filming location out of New Zealand. Eventually cooler heads prevailed and an agreement was reached, much to the relief of politicians and business owners who feared a loss of revenue in the projected range of $1.5 billion should the production not be filmed in the country. After completing a filming schedule that lasted the majority of a year, Jackson was at last ready to unveil "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012), telling the story of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and his incredible journey to assist a group of dwarves in retrieving a fortune in treasure from the fearsome dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Initially intended as one of two films, it was announced that "An Unexpected Journey" would be the first in yet another trilogy of epic films, which would return fan favorite actors like Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Cate Blanchett to the world of Middle-earth in their original roles.. Fox vehicle about a psychic investigator. Both films had their moments, but seemed like mere warm-ups before he undertook one of the most ambitious projects any filmmaker has ever signed on for when he tackled J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy. After spending several years trying to negotiate the rights to the material, which included a false start filming a remake of "King Kong," Jackson finally began principal photography in his native New Zealand in late 1999. He filmed all three films ¿ "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001), "The Two Towers" (2002) and "The Return of the King" (2003) ¿ in quick succession and ended production in December 2000 after over 430 days of shooting. Jackson spent the next year in post-production on the first installment, delving into the next film once the previous one was ready for release.

The first installment, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," was released in late December 2001 after a massive wave of hype was built up through various mediums, including the Internet and at the Cannes Film Festival, where 24 minutes of footage was screened to much enthusiasm. Set in mythic, prehistoric times in the fictional Middle Earth, "Fellowship" followed the trials and travails of hobbit Frodo Baggins (a digitally-reduced Elijah Woods) who embarks on a dangerous adventure with the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to destroy a magic ring inherited from his Uncle Bilbo (Ian Holm) in the fires of Mount Doom before the dark Lord Sauron enslaves Middle Earth. Aided by his best friends, Sam (Sean Astin), Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan), as well as an assorted cast of characters that include a human warrior (Viggo Mortensen), a mystical Elf (Orlando Bloom) and a Dwarf soldier (John Rhys-Davies), Frodo must avoid confrontation with the traitorous Saruman (Christopher Lee), who aids Sauron by raising a fierce Orcan army. Earning critical praise the world over, "Fellowship" was an enormous international box office hit, taking in over $870 million while en route to receiving 13 Academy Award nominations and winning four for cinematography, makeup, score and visual effects.

The second film, "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," was released in 2002 to much fanfare, with many critics and movieg

Began shooting a feature-length vampire film with a Super 8mm camera when he was a teenager

:

After leaving school, worked as a photoengraver at a newspaper company in Wellington

1983:

First made the 10-minute short film "Roast of the Day," which over four years later, turned into Jackson's first feature "Bad Taste"

1987:

Debuted first feature film, "Bad Taste," at the Cannes Film Festival; also produced, starred in, wrote, photographed and edited

1990:

First of several collaborations with producer Jim Booth and writer Fran Walsh, "Meet the Feebles"

1993:

Formed Weta Digital, a digital visual effects company, in Wellington, New Zealand

1993:

Directed the horror comedy "Braindead" (released in the U.S. as "Dead Alive"); re-teamed with Jim Booth and Fran Walsh

1994:

Breakthrough feature was based on real life events, "Heavenly Creatures"; final collaboration with Jim Booth; earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay

1995:

Co-directed (with Costa Botes) the mockumentary "Forgotten Silver"

1996:

Helmed the Robert Zemeckis produced "The Frighteners"; co-wrote with Fran Walsh

1999:

Filmed the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy back-to-back in New Zealand

2001:

Released first film in the trilogy, "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings"; received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director and a nomination by the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement

2003:

Released second film in the trilogy, "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"; received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director and received a nomination by the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement

2004:

Released the final film in the trilogy, "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"; nominated for and won eleven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay; tied with "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "Titanic" (1997) for the most Oscars ever won by a single film

Formed Wingnut Interactive, a video game development studio, with Microsoft Game Studios

2007:

Directed the short film "Crossing the Line" to test a new model of digital Cinema camera the RED ONE

2009:

Produced "District 9," a sci-fi film, directed by Neill Blomkamp, who also co-wrote with Terri Tatchell; earned an Oscar nomination for Producing

2009:

Directed the feature film adaptation of Alice Sebold's bestseller "The Lovely Bones"

2011:

Co-produced the animated feature "The Adventures of Tintin," directed by Steven Spielberg

2012:

Returned to Middle Earth with "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien; also co-wrote screenplay; also co-wrote screenplay

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Education

Kapiti College:
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Notes

On December 31, 2001, Jackson was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

"I have an unhealthy interest in the grotesque ... For a long time I wanted to be [special effects wizard Ray] Harryhausen, and I wanted to be an animator. But I was unable to design or build a monster. I was trying to do my monster, and it all kind of ended up looking like Harryhausen's Cyclops. I was worried that I could never do anything original. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties doing 'Bad Taste' that I started to really think I could come up with things that no one has seen before."---Jackson quoted in "Death and the Maidens" by Howard Feinstein, Village Voice, November 15, 1994.

"Jackson's ... forays into over-the-top violence, scatology, and kitsch are a unique blend of Johns Woo and Waters, Jan Svankmajer, and bargain-basement Berlin schlockmeister Jorg Buttgereit ("Nekromantik" 1988). He is preoccupied with mommies and monsters, sometimes even mommie-monsters."---Howard Feinstein in his article, "Death and the Maidens" in Village Voice, November 15, 1994.

"I think he is actually a Hobbit himself."---Cate Blanchett, who plays the Elf queen Galadriel in "The Lord of the Rings" on Jackson's passion for the works of Tolkien.

"People always said, 'How can your imagination compete with the books; how can you put things on the screen that are going to be better than what people have in their minds?' I understood the rationale behind that. [But] I started to believe it was possible when I saw Alan Lee [conceptual artist] produce sketches for me that were so much better than what was in my mind. I knew then that it was possible to show things on-screen beyond what people imagined."---Jackson on LOTR, quoted to Empire magazine, January, 2005.